{"id":1223,"date":"2009-09-24T18:39:17","date_gmt":"2009-09-25T00:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1223"},"modified":"2009-09-24T18:39:17","modified_gmt":"2009-09-25T00:39:17","slug":"romans-216-no-more-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-216-no-more-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 2:16 – No More Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Romans 2:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

14<\/span><\/sup><\/strong>for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, <\/span><\/strong>15<\/span><\/sup><\/strong>who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves <\/span><\/strong>their<\/span><\/em> thoughts accusing or else excusing <\/span><\/strong>them<\/span><\/em>) 16<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><\/span>in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the hidden thoughts and actions of the unsaved will be judged by our Savior.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word translated \u201caccusing<\/span>\u201d in verse fifteen is translated from the Greek word kat\u0113gore\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is a legal term that means \u201cto speak openly against, to condemn or accuse.\u201d It is what the plaintiff does in a court of law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcusing<\/span>\u201d in verse fifteen is from the Greek apalogeomai<\/span><\/em>, which is also a legal term. This word means \u201cto defend or speak or plead on behalf of oneself or another before a tribunal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The word \u201csecrets<\/span>\u201d is the Greek word kruptos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201csomething that is hidden or concealed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve included the previous two verses with today\u2019s so that you will see the context of today\u2019s verse. Remember, we are talking about the fact that even the unsaved (Gentiles) do some good things, and they know the difference between good and bad as evidenced by their consciences. Yesterday\u2019s verse indicated that the Gentiles will be accusing and excusing one another, and today\u2019s verse tells us when that accusing and excusing will be going on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul is clearly talking about a legal setting where judgment will take place. In today\u2019s verse he tells us when that will be. It is \u201cin the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.<\/span>\u201d This may be a reference to a verse in Ecclesiastes. At the end of Solomon\u2019s search for the meaning of life he concluded:<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.<\/span> (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n

And in his first letter to the Christians at Corinth the Apostle Paul warned them not to be judgmental, because our Lord is coming who will judge even the hidden things of the heart:<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.<\/span> (1Cointhians 4:5<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul is talking about those who deny that God exists even though there is ample proof of His existence and His power. These will stand before the One they have denied and they will have to explain their actions as well as their thoughts. And on that day even their own consciences will condemn them. They will be without excuse! And \u2026 they will be without a savior!<\/span><\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We too will stand before the Judge, but it will not be for condemnation. Our works will be judged to determine our rewards. The fire will destroy all that was not done for His glory, and what is left is all we will have to show for this life.<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 2:16 14for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[511,87,515,516,488],"class_list":["post-1223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-accuse","tag-christ","tag-defend","tag-excust","tag-judge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-jJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}